1963: 25th June. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou born in Finchley. 1975: September. The 12-year-old Panayiotou attends Bushey Meads comprehensive school where he meets Andrew Ridgeley. 1979: November. The duo forms their first band, the Executive, playing ska revival at school discos.  The band also includes David Austin, who later releases an album in Japan, on which George helps out. The pair remains friends and Austin appears on Michael's album Older. 1981: After the Executive split, the duo of Andrew Rigdeley and "George Panos" form Wham! 1982: After sending out demo tapes to various labels, Wham! signs to CBS subsidiary, Innervision. 1982: April. Their debut single, "Wham! Rap", fail to chart on its initial release. Bizarrely, John Peel is one of the first DJs to play the song on the radio. 1982: October. First U.K. hit with "Young Guns (Go For It)". 1983: January. The reissued "Wham! Rap" peaks at No. 8. 1983: July. Wham!'s debut album, "Fantastic", charts at No. 1 in the U.K., but is only a minor hit in the U.S. 1983: October. Wham! begin proceedings to get out of their contract with Innervision. 1984: June. After a year off, Wham! return (on Epic) with "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". It becomes their first No. 1 single, hitting the top spot on both sides of the Atlantic. 1984: August. George Michael issues his first solo single, "Careless Whisper", even though the song is a rare Ridgeley-Michael collaboration. It becomes Epic's first million-selling single. 1984: December. Wham! embark on their first world tour. George features on Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 1985: In the States, "Wham! The Video" wins a Grammy award for Best Long-Form video. 1985: February. Wham! win Best British Duo at the BPI Awards. 1985: March. George Michael wins Songwriter of the Year at the 30th anniversary for Ivor Novello Awards. Elton John, who declares him to be "The best songwriter of his generation", presents his award. Wham! become the first British pop band to tour communist China. 1985: May. George duets with Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson on a U.S. TV special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the famed black music venue, the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. 1985: July. George performs "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with Elton John at Live Aid, although a single featuring their duet doesn't appear for another six years. 1985: November. George and Andrew privately decide to split Wham! the following year. George and Elton collaborate on the single "Wrap Her Up". 1986: February. Wham! win Outstanding Contribution To British Music at the Brit Awards. 1986: April. George Michael's second solo single, "A Different Corner", becomes his second U.K. No. 1. Wham! officially call it a day. 1986: June. Wham! play their farewell show, The Final, at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 fans, and release their last single, "The Edge of Heaven", which becomes yet another No. 1. 1987: January. George duets with Aretha Franklin on the No. 1 single "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".   1987: June. George releases his first post-Wham! single, the controversial "I Want Your Sex", which ensures national press coverage, a BBC ban, but not No. 1 status (it peaks at No. 3). 1987: July. George is one of the mystery voices behind Boogie Box High's cover of the Bee Gee's "Jive Talkin'". Nick Heyward and George's cousin, Andros, are also involved. 1987: October. George's debut solo album, "Faith", is released. It goes on to sell over 15 million copies, catapulting him to megastardom. 1988: January. George rewrites his contract with Epic, but later goes to court to try and get out of it. 1988: February. George wins Best British Male Artist at the Brit Awards, and begins his Faith tour in Japan. 1988: June. The Faith tour reaches London's Earl's Court. George also performs three songs at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, and decided to cut back on his interviews. 1989: April. George wins second Songwriter Of The Year Award at the 34th Ivor Novello Awards. George helps out on a single by Deon Estus, bassist in Wham! and Michael's solo backing band. 1990: March. Andrew Ridgeley's debut single, "Shake", peaks at No. 58. His album, "Son Of Albert", doesn't even chart. 1990: October. Release of second solo album, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1". Rumours of ructions between George and Sony are rife. George's autobiography, "Bare", co-written with ex-NME journalist Tony Parson, is published. 1991: January. George embarks on the Cover to Cover tour, on which he sings his favourite songs by other artists. He also headlines at Rock In Rio festival in Brazil, during which he's briefly joined on stage by Andrew Ridgeley for an unexpected Wham! reunion. 1991: February. "Listen Without Prejudice" wins Best British Album at the Brit Awards. 1992: April. George performs with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. 1992: June. George directs the video for his "Too Funky" single. 1992: October. George issues writ against Sony. 1993: The Freddie Mercury Tribute single, "Five Live EP", featuring George, is issued by Parlophone. 1993: October. Ten years after Wham!'s lawsuit against Innervision, George's case against Sony reaches court. 1994: June. George loses case against Sony, and vows never to record another track for the label. At a press conference he states: "I am shocked at the judgement. It means that even though I created and paid for my work, I will never own it, or have any rights over it." 1995: January. In a Capital Radio survey, "Careless Whisper" is voted as London listener's favourite record of all time. 1995: July. George is released from his Sony contract, with a promise to record three new tracks for an eventual greatest hits collection. He signs a new deal with Virgin in the U.K. and DreamWorks in the States. 1995: August. George guests on Lisa Moorish's remake of Wham!'s "I'm Your Man". The single's producer, Jon Douglas, later works on "Older". 1996: January. The first single under the new deal, "Jesus To A Child", enters the chart at No. 1 1996: May. George's third solo outing, "Older", is released, becoming the fastest selling album in Virgin's history. 1997: April. George Michael launches his own Ægean label, with a duet with new artist Toby Bourke. 1997: November. Sony issue Wham!'s greatest hits album, "If You Were There". 1997: December. Virgin issue the reissue-enhanced "Older/Older Upper" double CD. 1998: April. George gets arrested in LA, California, for "lewd act" and later on admits that he's gay and is living with a man. 1998: November. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Best of George Michael" is released - and Sony gets their three new tracks: "As", "Outside" and "A Moment With You". 1999: December. George appears on the Linda McCartney Tribute concert where he performs "The Long And Winding Road", "Elanor Rigby" and "Faith" 1999: October. Net Aid where he performs "Freedom 90", "Fastlove" and "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" 1999: November. Stonewall where he performs, among others, "I Remember You" dedicated to his first true love. 1999: December. George's fourth solo album, "Songs From The Last Century" - a compilation of some of the songs from the 20th century - is released. 2000: April. George appears on Equality Rocks concert and duets with Garth Brooks on "Freedom 90". 2000: May. George releases a single with Whitney Houston called "If I Told You That". 2000: June. A new "Pavarotti & Friends" gig in Modena, Italy. George sings "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with Pavarotti and "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" from his latest album. 2000: August. George announces that he'll release a single called "Amazing" some time before Christmas. He's also recording his next album in west London. 2000: September. The "Pavarotti & Friends" CD is released, and contains "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" by George. 2002: March. Freeek! 2002: August. Shoot The Dog